S1: Today on Bold Steps, pastor Mark Jobe begins a brand
S1: new series about overcoming our biggest problem.
S2: You and I have a problem, a mega problem. It's
S2: the problem that scripture calls a sin problem. Romans chapter
S2: one through seven is all about how fallen we are,
S2: how broken we are, how condemned we are, how separated
S2: we are from God. And it would be a depressing
S2: book if there were not a chapter eight.
S1: And welcome to Bold Steps with pastor Mark Jobe. Mark
S1: is president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of
S1: New Life Community Church in Chicago. Well, Mark, today we're
S1: beginning this short series you've titled overcome. And you're going
S1: to start by talking about how we need to understand
S1: what condemnation is and why it's such an important factor
S1: in our spiritual lives.
S3: Yeah, this is going to be such a great series.
S3: You know, the book of Romans is thick with theology
S3: but also practical application. And so get ready for this.
S1: All right. The message no condemnation. And Mark, you're going
S1: to begin with a lesson, a story about a traffic
S1: ticket and how your wife Dee was working to kind
S1: of find out who who was responsible.
S3: Well, I don't know about your house, Wayne, but, you know,
S3: we sometimes, uh, share cars. And so when a traffic
S3: ticket comes in, everybody's trying to figure out who was
S3: driving the car when we got that sort of photo
S3: speeding ticket.
S1: I've been in that exact situation. Let's get started with
S1: the message now.
S3: She lifted.
S2: Up.
S3: The.
S2: Little letter that was in the mail, and she said,
S2: someone got a ticket and.
S3: She looked.
S2: At me. My boys.
S3: Were in the kitchen.
S2: While she said it, and they said, oh, dad, you
S2: got another ticket? Hey, mom, dad got a ticket? What
S2: was it for this time? And she looked at the
S2: at the fine on the ticket for $100 for going
S2: through a a a stoplight. And I said, whoa, whoa,
S2: I don't remember that. And yeah, it was you. And
S2: she said, this happened on a Friday. You were the
S2: one driving the car on a Friday. This is. I
S2: can't believe you got a ticket. And all the boys
S2: were saying, dad, you got another ticket? I can't believe you.
S2: You got a ticket? And I said, I don't think
S2: I was driving the car. I said, I think, Josiah,
S2: you were driving the car. He says, no, dad, don't
S2: try to pin it on me. You were driving the car.
S2: And then I says, no, I don't remember that, honey,
S2: I think you are. And he was like, no, take responsibility.
S2: You are guilty for this ticket. Maybe it was you.
S2: Grant and Grant. Dad, dad, don't try to blame me.
S2: You're the one that always gets the tickets. And we
S2: were going round and round. I said, give me that ticket.
S2: So I got that ticket and I looked at the
S2: date on the ticket and my wife had misread it.
S2: And I looked at the time on the ticket. It
S2: was a Sunday morning at 10:00. I said, hello. I
S2: got an alibi, a big alibi. I was preaching. Out
S2: of the side of my eye, I saw my son Grant,
S2: kind of walking out of the kitchen like this. Trying to.
S2: Trying to get it. Grant, where are you going? It's
S2: like 10:00 Sunday morning. You were driving grandpa to church.
S2: This is your ticket. And he was like, oh, my ticket. Okay.
S2: And you know what I said, son? It's $100. You're
S2: paying this ticket. And suddenly when he thought we were paying,
S2: it was no big deal when he knew he was
S2: paying it. It became a big deal. How many of
S2: you parents have experienced that? Once in a while. You know,
S2: when you pay it, it's a big deal. Because he
S2: finally realized I have to pay the penalty for what
S2: I did wrong. Stay with me now. You see, we
S2: had the ticket and the ticket was in the mail.
S2: We had done wrong. But until my son realised that
S2: it was his ticket, until he realised that he was guilty.
S2: Until he realised that he had to pay the fine.
S2: It wasn't a big deal. He was condemned. He was guilty.
S2: It was his fault. But he didn't even know it.
S2: Some of you, when we talk about condemnation today, it's
S2: not a topic that you're that interested in. If I
S2: were to talk about being free from debt, you would say, hey,
S2: I want to learn about that. If I want to
S2: talk about being free from depression, you would say, yeah,
S2: I struggle with that sometimes. If I were to talk
S2: about being free from a bad marriage, you'd say, come on,
S2: talk to me now. If I were to talk to
S2: you about being free from worry, you would say, I
S2: struggle with that all the time. If I were to
S2: talk to you about being free from stress, you would say, hey,
S2: I need to hear this message really loud and clear.
S2: But to be free from condemnation, some of you are like,
S2: I don't even know what that means. But I'm convinced
S2: that when you start to understand what it means to
S2: be free from condemnation and start to live in it,
S2: it will set you free in a powerful, compelling, outstanding
S2: supernatural way that you will be able to determine. There
S2: was a before and there was an after. I understood
S2: that I'm free from condemnation. This will be a life
S2: changing message for some of you that are living under
S2: this dark cloud of continual, perpetual undercurrent of condemnation in
S2: your life. And that's exactly how Romans Chapter eight starts with,
S2: but he starts with Romans chapter eight. There's no there's
S2: therefore no condemnation. But he uses the first seven chapters
S2: of Romans to say, we are condemned. You see, you
S2: don't not really understand the power of being free from
S2: condemnation until you understand that you are condemned. You don't
S2: care about a ticket until you have to pay it,
S2: and you realize you're guilty. Some of you don't really
S2: care about condemnation because you're not. You don't understand how
S2: condemned we are. If you understood how condemned we are,
S2: you would be super excited to hear about what it
S2: means to live no condemnation. Romans chapter one through seven.
S2: The Apostle Paul spends a lot of time building a case,
S2: explaining how all of us, from the little old lady
S2: to the young boy, to the mother, to the grandparent,
S2: to the college age, how all of us are condemned
S2: by our sin before God. He explains that we've all
S2: fallen short of the glory of God, that there's not
S2: one of us that can stand right before God, that
S2: all our good works and all our attempts to be
S2: right before God have failed, that from the beginning, all
S2: the way from Adam. Until now we have lived with
S2: this cloud of condemnation, that that it started with Adam.
S2: God put us in a perfect world, right? And God
S2: didn't create you and I with sin. He created us sinless,
S2: created Adam and Eve, put him in the idyllic environment.
S2: But there came a point in a time where man
S2: and woman both decided to try to go their own way.
S2: Theologians call it the fall of man at that very
S2: moment when they sinned against God, their nature was changed.
S2: From then on, God kicked them out of the garden,
S2: not to punish them, but to separate them from the
S2: tree of life so that they would not live eternally.
S2: And from that moment on, every person born after Adam
S2: has inherited the seed of something. The seed of what?
S2: The seed of a sin nature. You and I were
S2: born with it. Every person in humanity that's been born
S2: was given the seed of a sin nature. What does
S2: that mean? That means that you were born with a proclivity,
S2: the inclination, the desire, the natural born tendency toward sin.
S2: You say, well, pastor, I've seen the little baby when
S2: they're born. They're so cute and they're so innocent. And
S2: they are until they turn two. You don't have to
S2: teach a baby how to be selfish. You don't have
S2: to teach a little two year old how to say
S2: mine and how to hit it. It's just like they
S2: know it. I mean, when my kids started turning two
S2: and 18 months and I saw that sin nature. I said, honey,
S2: that must come from your side of the family. Because, man,
S2: they just it's just natural for them to show sin. But,
S2: you know, it didn't come. It came from both sides
S2: of the family, came from me, the sin nature. There's
S2: only been one person since Adam and Eve that did
S2: not share the sin nature because he was born of
S2: a virgin, not the seed of man. The reason that
S2: Jesus Christ had to be born of a virgin was
S2: so that he would not have the sin nature inside
S2: of him. And so Jesus was born not from the
S2: seed of man, but only a woman, so that the
S2: sin nature would not be passed down to him. And
S2: the Bible calls him the second Adam. The first Adam
S2: was created without a sin nature. And the second Adam
S2: is Jesus was born without a sin nature. You and
S2: I have a problem, a mega problem. It's the problem
S2: of brokenness. It's the problem of imperfection. It's the problem
S2: that Scripture calls a sin. Problem. And that very sin
S2: condemns us before a holy God. And so Romans chapter
S2: one through seven is all about how fallen we are,
S2: how broken we are, how condemned we are, how separated
S2: we are from God. And it would be a depressing
S2: book if there were not a chapter eight. And chapter
S2: eight tells us, yeah, you got a ticket? Yeah. You
S2: got to pay a fine. Yeah, you're guilty. But guess what?
S2: There is someone that's decided to pay that fine for you.
S2: His name is Jesus. And so the apostle Paul starts
S2: this entire chapter. I'm going to begin reading in verse
S2: one of chapter eight. It says, therefore, and every time
S2: you see the word therefore, you have to ask yourself,
S2: what is it? Therefore, it means that it is a
S2: bridge between two thoughts. A Romans chapter eight is bridging
S2: the thoughts from Romans chapter seven that tells us how
S2: condemned we are. And it says, therefore there is now,
S2: now present. Here, this time, there is now, here it goes.
S2: This is a big one. It's powerful. No condemnation. Say
S2: it out loud. No condemnation. There is therefore now no
S2: condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Because through
S2: Christ Jesus, the law of the sin who gives life
S2: has set you free from the law of sin and
S2: death for what the law was powerless to do because
S2: of its weakness by the flesh. God did by sending
S2: His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be
S2: a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,
S2: in order that the righteous requirements of the law may
S2: be fully met in us who do not live according
S2: to the flesh, but according to the spirit. If you're
S2: taking notes this morning, I want you to write this down.
S2: I want you to write. This is what it means
S2: to live condemnation free. Number one, there is no condemnation.
S2: So you have been set free from the law. Let
S2: me explain. First of all, what condemnation is. The word
S2: condemnation is a legal term. It's a term that's used
S2: in court. We've heard it in a sentencing at times
S2: where we say the judge condemned that person to ten
S2: years in prison. It means that the person was found guilty,
S2: that they deserve punishment and that they have to fulfill
S2: their punishment. They're found guilty. That's condemnation.
S4: So very helpful. We'll get to the final part of
S4: today's message in just a moment. You're listening to Bold
S4: Steps with pastor Mark Jobe, and we want to take
S4: a moment to tell you how much we appreciate it
S4: when we get to hear from our listeners.
S2: Mark, we love hearing from our listeners. Wayne. And we
S2: get a steady stream of prayer requests, of testimonies of questions.
S2: And we love interacting. And and I want you to
S2: know that we read all those we pray for people
S2: on a regular basis. And so thank you for trusting
S2: us with your questions and your prayer requests. If you
S2: want to leave a testimony, a question of any kind,
S2: you can go to Bold steps.org and tell us what's
S2: on your heart. Or you can also give us a
S2: call and leave a message on a recorded line by
S2: dialing (312) 329-2011. Again, that's (312) 329-2011.
S1: And don't be shy about it. We'd love to hear
S1: from you.
S2: Absolutely.
S1: All right, here's a note we received from a listener.
S1: It says, my name is Anna. I've been listening to
S1: your program for the past six months. I serve as
S1: a music leader at a local church in North Carolina.
S1: Since being introduced to Bold steps via radio, I've been
S1: encouraged to the point of tears to continue to press
S1: on with what God has called me to within ministry.
S1: God is used in so timely, I might add, Pastor
S1: Mark's messages to speak to me. I'm thankful for this
S1: ministry and pray that it continues to bless those who hear.
S1: Keep spreading the good news, she says with all caps
S1: and exclamation points.
S2: Anna, thank you for encouraging us. And you know, I
S2: believe that the worship ministry is such a vital, important
S2: and may God give you the ability to continue to
S2: lead people into the presence of God.
S1: Once again, our website is Bold Steps. Org or give
S1: us a call and leave that message on a recorded
S1: line (312) 329-2011. All right, let's return to the final part
S1: of our message. No Condemnation. Here's pastor Mark.
S2: To be condemned before God means that we stand guilty.
S2: We're under God's judgment, and we need to suffer the
S2: punishment for violating God's law. The word condemnation in the
S2: Greek in this passage is found only two other places
S2: in Scripture, and it's a combination of two words that
S2: really means to judge down. When someone in those days
S2: would stand before the Roman emperor and the Roman emperor
S2: would declare whether that person was innocent or guilty, thumbs
S2: down meant you're guilty and you have to suffer the consequences.
S2: Go to the lions. Get your head chopped off. Go
S2: to the be burned at the stake, whatever the consequences were.
S2: But he would judge down. You are condemned. Romans eight
S2: starts with no condemnation, then goes to no separation. it
S2: ends with no separation. And in between is no defeat.
S2: So I want you to I want you to hear
S2: this because this is really, really important. The Apostle Paul
S2: says to us, there is therefore now no condemnation. If, though,
S2: for those of you that are in Christ Jesus. In fact,
S2: the word he uses in the Greek is. There is
S2: no hint of condemnation. In other words, there's not even
S2: a shadow of condemnation. There's not a trace of it.
S2: It's not like there's a little bit of condemnation. He's
S2: not saying there's less condemnation. He says there is therefore
S2: no absolutely nothing extinct erased. There is no condemnation absolutely
S2: at all for those that find themselves in Christ Jesus. Now,
S2: if you understood that you would be shouting, you'd be
S2: rejoicing if you understood the powerful implications of that. What
S2: does that mean? Let me tell you what it means. Listen, practically,
S2: for us, if you're in Christ Jesus, there's not even
S2: a hint of condemnation. So it means five things. It
S2: means my past sins are not against me anymore. No
S2: condemnation means that no matter where I've been, what I've done,
S2: how long I did it, how deep it was, how
S2: devious and dark and broken that when there is no condemnation,
S2: it means that those sins can never, ever be held
S2: against me again, because there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.
S2: There are some of you that walked in this place,
S2: and you have condemnation. Every time the birth of that
S2: aborted child comes to your mind, you feel condemned. Oh, what?
S2: What did I do? Maybe you walked away from a
S2: family that really needed you. Maybe you were violent against
S2: someone in your life. Maybe you cheated, stole, connived or proud.
S2: Maybe you made your living as a former prostitute. I
S2: don't know your background. I don't know your story. But
S2: here's what I know. What the Word of God declares
S2: over you that regardless of where you've been, what you've done,
S2: how long you did it, that if you're in Christ Jesus,
S2: there's not a single hint of your past that can
S2: now be held against you? There is no condemnation. And
S2: not only can your past not be held against you,
S2: but it also means that your current struggles are not
S2: God's punishment. There are some of you that live with
S2: this thought that God is punishing me now for what
S2: happened in the past. But if there is no condemnation,
S2: then there is no Punishment. There can only be punishment
S2: based on condemnation. God does not punish his children that
S2: have been set free from condemnation. He may discipline, but
S2: discipline is corrective, leading towards change. Punishment is punitive, making
S2: us pay a price. There's a difference. If you are
S2: going through a hard time right now and you are
S2: a child of the living God, it is not based
S2: on the punishment of God leveled against you. There is
S2: no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. And
S2: if there is no condemnation, we cannot be punished for
S2: things that do not condemn us. There is no condemnation there.
S2: Some of you need to grasp that. Know it, understand it,
S2: receive it. Number three, your future status is not in doubt.
S2: If there is no condemnation before God, then you know
S2: what your status is with. With God, there is no
S2: doubt of. Where do I stand before God? What will
S2: happen when I die? Am I accepted before God? What
S2: if I blow it right before I die? I'm in
S2: a car accident and I cuss right before I die.
S2: Then am I going to the wrong place? The Bible
S2: says there is therefore now not a hint of condemnation,
S2: not a string of condemnation. There is no condemnation to
S2: those that are in Christ Jesus, which means he gives
S2: us a security about our future because there is no condemnation.
S2: Number four, it means my personal acceptance is not earned.
S2: Only if you're condemned do you have to earn a place,
S2: pay off a debt, get rid of a penalty, pay
S2: that $100 fine, or if not, that fine gets bigger
S2: and you find a boot on your car. My personal
S2: acceptance before God is assured it's there. It's complete based
S2: on what someone has done for me, not what I
S2: have done myself. There is therefore in Christ Jesus no condemnation.
S2: So I am fully accepted before the father. And number
S2: five and lastly, my access to God is not limited
S2: because there is no condemnation to separate me from the
S2: God Almighty who listens to me and loves me and
S2: hears me. There is therefore no condemnation through Christ Jesus.
S2: The law of the spirit who gives life has set
S2: you free from the law of sin and death, because
S2: you are therefore no condemnation to those that are in
S2: Christ Jesus. That no condemnation is a result of the
S2: fact that you were condemned by the law of sin
S2: and death. But the law of the spirit has overcome
S2: the law of sin and death. There's not a person
S2: in this auditorium that hasn't sinned. In fact, your sin
S2: condemns you before God and my sin condemns me before God.
S2: The Bible says that death into the world because of sin.
S2: If you sin, you die. That's why all of us die.
S2: But that's also why death could not keep Jesus in
S2: the grave. Because Jesus did not sin. Therefore, death had
S2: no power over him. And the law of sin and
S2: death demands that if you sin, you die. The law
S2: of sin and death demands a payment. If we sin,
S2: we die. We're under that law. But the Apostle Paul says,
S2: In Christ Jesus there is another law that has set
S2: you free from the law of sin and death. And
S2: it's the law of the spirit that sets us free
S2: from the first law that condemns us.
S1: And we'll continue with part two of this message from
S1: Mark Jobe titled No Condemnation When we Return Tomorrow. You're
S1: listening to Bold Steps, and if you'd like to learn
S1: more about our ministry, just visit our website. Bold steps. Org.
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S1: us to the end of our program for now, but
S1: be sure to come back tomorrow when Mark continues with
S1: part two of today's message titled No Condemnation, we're discovering
S1: how the law of the spirit sets us free. Friday
S1: on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold Steps is a
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